Beginner’s Guide to Bowie: Final Chapter

I began the Beginners Guide to Bowie series back in August. Within the first four parts of the series, I recommended after listening to the Changesonebowie compilation, starting with three Bowie albums: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and Let’s Dance, followed by Hunky Dory; Station to Station and Low. I mentioned some essential songs and videos, and had a post about what to avoid, including ten albums that tend not to be loved among fans. To keep the series all together, I moved the previous four up so that they appear one after the other. This will be the final entry in the series.

Before listing out the next series of albums, I’m going to make clear that beginners should start with the first three albums, and while it doesn’t matter what order, listen to all three before moving on to the next three. As for the next three, order doesn’t matter as well, except for Low, which I would save for last, which is to say 6th. So that said, to finish off a list of 10, the Bowie beginner should move on to the following four albums:

Aladdin Sane (1973)
Diamond Dogs (1974)
“Heroes” (1977)
Blackstar (2016)

Again, the order doesn’t matter when it comes to the first three albums, but its best to have a foundation of familiarity with Bowie’s earlier work to fully appreciate Blackstar, which was Bowie’s final album.

The album cover of Aladdin Sane provided Bowie with one of his most iconic images and includes the first appearance of the lightning bolt, that would become a symbol associated with Bowie thereafter. Musically, it’s a follow up to Ziggy with more American influences. It contains several well-known songs, and others that while less will known are nonetheless very good. It’s hard not to think of this album in any Bowie top 10, however it is a little uneven which is why I don’t consider it to be among his very best.

Diamond Dogs is one of my favorites. It is probably the most coherent concept album in Bowie’s catalogue. Starting out as a musical version of 1984, the final version of the album remains fixed in a dystopian narrative, while musically signaling a shift from Bowie’s early-70s glam style into his more funky mid-70s “plastic soul.”

The title track for “Heroes” is a contender for Bowie’s most beloved song. And the album is strong overall, but like Low, also from the so-called Berlin Trilogy (along with Lodger), contains several instrumental tracks. The instrumentals are not at all bad, but I’d recommend warming up to “Heroes” because you are not likely to come away from the album thinking they define your conception of Bowie.

Blackstar holds a special place in the catalogue. It isn’t simply Bowie’s final album, but it’s an artistic exploration of his own death. This was one of the best selling and most critically acclaimed albums of 2016, and holds up on its own as a great album. The album contains all sorts of subtle references to Bowie’s past works, so as good an album as it is, I think it shouldn’t come much earlier on a beginner’s journey.

So, that’s really it for my beginner’s guide. At this point, you either like Bowie or you don’t. What comes next is up to you. Bowie’s other studio albums, minus the ones I included on the list to avoid, are all also good. If you reach this point and are looking for more Bowie, though I can tell you which ones of these I like more than others, I think you’d be pretty safe with any of them. These albums include, in chronological order:

Space Oddity (1969)
The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
Pin Ups (1973)
Young Americans (1975)
Lodger (1979)
Black Tie White Noise (1993)
The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
1. Outside (1995)
Earthling (1996)
Heathen (2002)
Reality (2003)
The Next Day (2013)

Again, I don’t personally think of these albums as all of the same quality, but at this point I’m going to let the graduated beginner sort it out for him or herself.

And after that? There are many moire live albums, compilations, and soundtracks, as well as guest appearances on other artists’ albums, albums Bowie produced and several movies in which Bowie appeared. Even the “what to avoid” list contains material that has value under the surface.

But by that point, the listener has long since ceased being a beginner, thus the end of this series.

One last note— none of this is meant to be a rank listing of my favorite Bowie albums or songs. That kind of thing appears elsewhere on this blog. And in terms of a guide for fans past the beginner stage? That’s really what the rest of thus blog is. So if you’ve read this far, come back tomorrow for… the next day…